Amy vs Emma -- Is one a nickname?

Question

I am working on a profile in which the mother is named Emma in the birth and baptismal records, but Amy B in subject's marriage and death records.  There is a marriage record for Amy with subject's father before her birth.  But nothing showing Emma's marriage.  Both Amy and Emma have the maiden name of Charles in the records.

Surname is Chew (not that common) and all records are in Richland Co., OH, not a huge population.  

Is it possible the Amy is a nickname for Emma or v.v.?

Thanks for any insights you may have.

Answer 1

Southern Appalachian dialect at one time tended to reflect final vowels as [i:], so it's pretty common to see a name like Emma transcribed as Emmy, along with the usual American tendency to form nicknames with "-y." An Amy/Emma aIternation wouldn't be unexpected. It's probably not as common as far north as Richland County, but it would be expected in Southeastern Ohio a couple generations ago.

Comments

Thank you so much for this.  I do a lot of work on names, but I never heard of this particular tendency.  In looking (briefly) at earlier members of the Richland clan, it appears they are from Virginia (and possibly what is now WV), which makes it even more likely.

If I understand you correctly, Emma would be the likely "baptismal" name and Amy the diminuative?

I wasn't going to work on this line, but it might be fun!

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It used to be really pronounced in my grandmother's generation, but you hardly hear it anymore. Virginy for Virginia, Caroliny for Carolina, even Ohiy for Ohio. From my experience with spelling variations in records, it must have been active well back into the 1800s. My dad was from more western Ohio, and they used to do a similar thing with the final vowels, but they'd be reflected as schwa, so Ohiuh, Cincinatuh, Sciotuh. I swear to god, I've even heard "Lake Eruh".

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In this sense, it may not be a nickname, but rather it's a reflection of the actual pronunciation. The A in Amy an the E in Emma are pretty close, so if someone's reflecting Emma as Emmy (or Amy as Amuh), some clerks are likely to interpret one as the other.

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I forgot about that particular accent.  You are so right about the final vowel changed.  I remember it among rural folks esp., even in Western PA.  Thanks!

Answer 2

The name Tew was often written as Chew

Comments

Thanks.  That is helpful for more distant research on this collateral line.

Answer 3

In going through some additional documents, I notice that some of her early (pre-marriage) records show the name AMIE B. Charles.  So this may well be a French derived name that was "corrupted" into English as Emma, Amy, and, even some as Anne (possibly a bad transcription).

Fascinating.

Answer 4

In England I have an ancestor who was called Amy in the county of Somerset and Emma in the county of Devon.

I just think its a regional thing.

Comments

I would say pronunciation and the faculties of the parish clerk. I know of one registered  as both  Emma and Amy at various points in her life  in the same parish She's  from Dorset snugly adjoining both Somerset and Devon.